Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games:

There could be no favorite as the event was rarely contested at national meets in this era. The world record had stood since 1893 when Edward Bloss (USA) had jumped 48-6 (14.78) when the event was on the AAU program for the only time prior to 1908. The Olympic record was 47-5¾ (14.47), set by Meyer Prinstein (USA) in 1900.

Three qualifying sections were held in the morning with the three leading competitors taking three further jumps in the afternoon. The Irishman Tim Ahearne and Garfield MacDonald, a Canadian from Nova Scotia, waged a fierce battle and completely dominated the competition. They were both drawn in the same qualifying section and both produced their best performance in the final three jumps. With his final jump Ahearne set a new Olympic record to take the gold medal and MacDonald was unable to match Ahearne's effort. Contrary to most reports, Ahearne did not win with the last jump of the competition. He was ahead of MacDonald in the jumping order.

Tim Ahearne and his brother, Dan Ahearn, hailed from Dirreen, County Limerick in Ireland. Shortly after the Olympics, they emigrated to the United States, where Dan dropped the final "e" from his name. Tim Ahearne had won the 1909 AAA long jump championship, but in the United States he was eclipsed by his younger brother. Dan Ahearn set the first IAAF-recognized triple jump with 50-11 (15.52) in May 1911. He won the AAU triple jump in 1911 and 1913-1918, usually defeating Tim, who was runner-up in 1911, 1913-14, and 1916.